Winnipeg Construction Association (WCA) president Bill Hambley says the province’s prompt payment legislation, Bill 218, “needs some significant amendments before it will work as intended.”
In a note to members, he writes that the WCA has met with the bill’s sponsor, Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer.
“He advised there is currently a window of opportunity for the industry to come together, discuss practical solutions to the payment issue and present a unified position on the draft legislation,” Hambley wrote.
In response, he says WCA has taken the following actions:
- The General Contractor and Trade Contractor divisions held meetings last week (in early May) and agreed they would work together with the Manitoba Prompt Payment Coalition to see if consensus can be reached on improvements to Bill 218.
- The WCA board agreed to appoint a group made up of two members from each of our General Contractor, Electrical Contractor and Trade Contractor Divisions to meet with the Manitoba Prompt Payment Coalition (which is led by the Mechanical Contractors Association) to review the bill. This group will also look at the recently adopted Ontario Construction Act to see if ideas can be borrowed from that legislation. The intent is to provide a piece of workable consensus legislation in Manitoba
- The WCA is hosting information sessions over the next two weeks for some of the large construction owners. We are concerned owners have not been involved in this process to date, and we want to ensure they understand what prompt payment legislation is and hear their concerns.
- The WCA has committed to providing members with regular updates, like this, on the status of Bill 218 and our conversations with the Manitoba Prompt Payment Coalition.
